More historic than 28% of U.S. towns · #571 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Most of Summit Township was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1990. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1950 on, and the census since 1870.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Summit Township is more historic than 28% of U.S. towns, #571 of 768 in Illinois. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Summit Township’s overall grade.
Few Illinois towns list much on the Register (a typical Illinois town has 0.5 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Summit Township’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (28% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1860.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.8 points).
Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Summit Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost half of its people between 1870 and 1950, then grew 5-fold.
16 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Summit Township’s Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Ewington
1832–1866
Funkhouser
1869–1911
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
EwingtonFunkhouser
Gone or out of use
Blue Point SchoolschoolEwington SchoolschoolFunkhouser SchoolschoolNorth Fairview Schoolschool
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Summit Township
Arborcrest Memorial ParkBlue Point BaptistBrownEwingtonToothaker
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The story so far
Summit Township, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Summit Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Summit Township is one of fifteen townships in Effingham County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2020 census, its population was 3,760 and it contained 1,774 housing units.
Summit Township was established in 1860. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 3,584 to 3,760 (+5%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Summit Township in 1883
Passages that mention Summit Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Effingham county, Illinois1883 · page 169Read the page →
Read the text
The settlement of Summit Township dates back more than half a century. So far as we can definitely learn, the first whites who straggled in here came about the year 1830 Those who, it is claimed, settled within the present limits of Summit in that j'ear, were Alexander McWhorter, Robert Moore, John Trapp and the Rentfros. The latter were
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Summit Township, 1832 to 2020
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Summit Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1950Effingham sheet · 1:62,500
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Summit Township.
Then & now
Stand where they stood
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Retake this viewFishermen at Summit, Ill's, 1900
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Summit Township’s page.
In 1860, according to Wikidata. Summit Township’s post office opened in 1832, and the census of 1870 counted 1,432 people here.
How does Summit Township rank for history?
Summit Township is more historic than 28% of U.S. towns, #571 of 768 in Illinois. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
How old are the homes in Summit Township?
9% of Summit Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.8 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1990.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From the Library of Congress (3), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1900
